Without an Equity Card, You May Have Trouble at Broadway Auditions

If you're looking for your first Broadway contract, getting your foot in the door is tricky. Auditions are structured to prioritize members of the Actors' Equity Association, the union for stage professionals. There are several ways to become a member: Sign a contract for an Equity show; be a member of a sister union, like AGMA or SAG-AFTRA; or accrue "Equity points" by working at specific theaters for at least 25 weeks. But in the meantime, dancers face serious challenges.

Getting Seen Isn't Guaranteed

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When a show holds an Equity chorus call (known as an ECC), union members are guaranteed to be seen. Non-Equity dancers can attend but are given the chance to try out at the creative team's discretion and only if time allows once all Equity members have been seen.

"I remember times where I would sit for hours," says Tommy McKiernan, who later got his Equity break with the national tour of Seussical. "I'd have to frantically text someone to cover my shift at work." On some days, McKiernen would finish bartending after midnight, wake up at 4 am to audition and stay there all day, only to have the moderator announce that they wouldn't be seeing non-Equity dancers. When multiple auditions he was interested in fell on the same day, it was impossible to predict which calls might have time for non-Equity dancers.

The First to Arrive Isn't Always First to Audition

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Before the Equity monitor arrives, there's no set system that decides audition order for non-Equity performers. The first dancer to show up (many hours before the ECC starts) often creates an unofficial sign-up sheet. But because the list is unofficial, there can be issues. That's what former Disney Cruise Line dancer Sarah Cooper learned when she went to an ECC for Wicked. "A friend and I got there early and signed up as numbers seven and eight," she says. "Whoever volunteered to transfer the list threw it out and started their own so they could be first to audition. We ended up as numbers 80 or 90."

You May Wait With No Warm-up Space

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At Equity calls, union members are given priority to holding rooms and warm-up areas. If there isn't enough space, non-Equity dancers must wait elsewhere. If your name is called and you don't hear it, you miss your chance. "There were auditions I didn't even warm up for because I was afraid of missing my name," Sarah Cooper says. "I would just pray there wouldn't be a battement in the combo."

When Timothy Cooper started auditioning, he got yelled at for trying to use a restroom reserved for Equity members. "I had to go all the way downstairs just to use the bathroom," says Cooper, whose credits include the U.S. tour of AGentleman's Guide to Love and Murder.

Are We Asking Too Much of Dancers?

Non-Equity members sacrifice time and money—often missing shifts at their survival jobs—in hopes of being seen at an ECC. "You put all your energy into something that very likely won't work out," says Paige Grimard, who got her Equity card after a friend connected her to an off-Broadway callback. If you do make it into the room, "the Equity dancers clearly know everyone," says Grimard. "When you see a dancer hug the choreographer you think, What am I even doing here?" She now tries to make Broadway hopefuls feel welcome. "I remember how taxing it all is, so the very least I can do is be encouraging."

Alternative Routes

Most Broadway dance calls are Equity chorus calls, but they're not the only way to get cast.

• Non-Equity calls for non-Equity shows. A note of caution: They're usually packed because of the number of nonunion dancers.

• Agency-connected auditions. These are held specifically for dancers whose agents recommend them. If your agent gets you in the room, you've got a shot at being seen even as a non-Equity performer.

• Work your connections. If you have a friend involved or you've worked with a choreographer who's doing the show, you might get to attend the callback of an ECC without an Equity card.

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<p>"About six weeks to a month before we shot, Josephine sent me a storyboard and a whole lookbook. I found that really inspiring because I often struggle, in my own work, to communicate all my ideas. I thought, why don't I make lookbooks?" Driscoll said in a recent conversation.</p><p>After rehearsal, we headed to a hotel for the night. As a concert dancer, even this indie film felt lavish to me: All our meals were provided and we each got our own hotel room. The next morning we were up early to head back to set for hair and makeup. This was a long process, but watching the hair and makeup team get everyone into 1940s glam was one of my favorite parts of the experience.</p><p>The costume team sourced almost all the clothing from vintage stores, so most of what we were wearing was completely authentic to the time period. We were included in the crowd scenes, which showed students coming and going from class, as well as a few others, so we changed between different costumes throughout the day, sneaking in extra rehearsal time here and there.</p>

<p>To help direct movement in certain parts of the film, including crowd scenes and an eerie dream sequence, director Josephine Decker brought on choreographer <a href="https://www.dancemagazine.com/search/?q=Faye+Driscoll" target="_self">Faye Driscoll</a>, who has choreographed extensively for theater and film in addition to her own performance work. Driscoll also worked with Decker on the acclaimed indie film <em>Madeline's Madeline</em>.</p><p>At the last minute, the production team decided to cast dancers for a few scenes. I was one of them, and the whirlwind experience was my first commercial gig. I answered a casting call on a Tuesday, and by Friday I was in a van being driven to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where <em>Shirley</em> was filming on location. There were three other dancers—Tara Sheena, Lyric Danae, and Allegra Herman. We had just one afternoon to rehearse our main scene, which was shot the next day.</p><p>Our dance scene was the dream sequence, where we appeared alongside actress Victoria Pedretti, whose character is something of a temptress. As we dove into our rapid rehearsal process, Driscoll started by showing us a collection of images she and Decker had compiled to inspire the scene, ranging from sexy to grotesque.</p>

<p>By the time we got to our dance scene, the sun had gone down. We were working in and around a large tree, and the crew had set up a single massive light to illuminate the area. It was late in the day and everyone had been working since early that morning. We were told, basically, to just go for it. We performed several different movement sequences that Driscoll had put together, with the camera rolling the whole time.<br></p><p>"Those days there were like tech, dress, and a show, but with no catharsis," says Driscoll. "I love working in film, but so much of it really is delayed gratification."</p>

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